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Help with my itinerary

Posted by (Charleston, SC, USA) on

Long story short - i'm moving back to Florence, Italy to study wine in August. After extensive travel during my last stay (Aug-Dec of 2008) we explored a lot of Europe and learned from many mistakes. We are beginning phases of the trip, getting rail passes, booking hotels, etc. We are purchasing a Select 4 country EuroRail pass for 10 travel days within a 2 month period.

We have 14 weekends + one full week break (per semester). We are currently planning that week trip in France to see the wine harvests in the Rhone and Burgundy region, with a stop in Paris. The only other place we plan to visit (for the third time because its the most beautiful place in the world) is Belgium. Of course some weekend we'll explore Tuscany.

Any suggestions on some places to visit that might be off the beaten path? We've been to most major cities and plan to see some more.

Posted by
111 posts

My son lives in N. Italy. He always compares rail to discount flight tickets. He finds discount airlines are in some cases cheaper than rail. Hard to believe but he flys all over Europe faster and chaeper than by rail or car.

Posted by
23626 posts

My standard for deciding between rail and air is about six hours. If the train travel is six to eight hours, then air probably will be quicker. Anything under six and I stick with the train. With discount airlines people often overlook the additional costs associated with using discount airlines that should be included in the total cost comparison.

Posted by
32353 posts

JB,

As you're going to be in Europe studying Wine, you might try to make a stop at www.chateaudeshospitaliers.fr/. It's a beautiful part of France (not far from Nimes) and the wine is excellent (IMHO of course).

Cheers!

Posted by
799 posts

I'm not clear on whether you're looking for places in Italy or not.

In Italy, have you been to the Piedmont (probably you have, if you're studying wine)? We love Bologna, great markets and food. What about Ravenna, which has amazing mosaics. Urbino would be a little more difficult to get to, but it's definetely in a less-touristy part of Italy.

What about the Dordogne area of France? You could fly into Bordeaux, and either visit there too, or head directly into the Dordogne, for great food, foie gras, medieval castles and prehistoric cave paintings.

In terms of cities, if you haven't already been to Barcelona, it's full of lots of great cafes for people-watching, tapas, cutting-edge cuisine and fabulous architecture.

Lucky you - it sounds like a great trip!

Posted by
8 posts

You can save on the days you use your pass by buying some tickets such as the Bayernticket, which allows up to 5 people to travel together within Bavaria for an entire weekend for about $35. With this, you can hop and and off at will. There is also a "Querdurchsland" ticket that takes you completely from one end of German to the other for one person for about the same price. That ticket is only for one trip. You may have to hunt and ask for these ticket options, because the train agents usually try to sell American tourists the more expensive ones.

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